I thought I'd share some on-the-go shots and snippets of our day-to-day life with the littles.

Some days when I fetch Ryan from school and arrive at his nanny's place, I park near a fruit/fruit juice shop. After I park the car, I will look back at Ryan sitting in his car seat and ask him if he wants to buy some guava. He always says yes. I will give him some money and he will keep it carefully in his hand while we cross the busy road to the shop. As we walk, I ask him, "What are you going to say to Aunty?" and we talk about what he should do. I will remind him of the social niceties - to say Hello Aunty, Please, Thank You, Bye Bye Aunty and See You! We talk about the money he is holding - how much it is, whether he needs change, the denominations of the coins or notes, how much one packet of guava costs. We talk about whether he will share his guava with anyone (he always says Bella - but Bella is no longer looked after by his nanny).

This is the shop, and you can see the shopkeeper inside (the one with the checkered apron and her hair up in a bun). She looks like a lovely lady.

I say that the shopkeeper "looks" like a lovely lady because I've never actually spoken to her. When we reach the shop, I always stay a distance away and let Ryan go in by himself. After all, the whole point of discussing what to do and what to say is so that he can do the task on his own, without me. In any case, I know that the shopkeeper will guide him if he needs help. So I keep my distance. The shopkeeper and I smile knowingly at each other from afar, both of us understanding that this is a good experience for Ryan - he feels capable, he feels independent, he feels confident.

There is usually a queue but Ryan always goes straight to the shopkeeper, bypassing everyone. The shopkeeper always serves him first no matter how long the queue. Ryan has been visiting this shop ever since he was an infant in his nanny's arms and the shopkeeper adores him. I would prefer him to queue up but that is just not going to happen here. The shopkeeper treats him like a superstar and, of course, I love that she does.

After the shopkeeper has packed up the guava for Ryan and hung the bag on his arm, she will give him a hug. No matter how busy her shop is, that hug is a guarantee. Then, Ryan will wave and say Bye Bye! as he skips out to me. He reports with a grin, "I said Thank You!" and I know he isn't telling me for the sake of getting my approval. He is bubbling over with joy and sharing his joy with me, knowing that he did a "Great Job".